M Adamson – OPW Flood Mapping & CFRAM

The National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management held an annual plenary meeting/ MEM conference in Athlone on November 5th 2015. The conference has taken place annually since 2009. The purpose of the annual plenary meeting is to reflect on the events that have occurred during the last twelve months, review the developments underway and prepare for the challenges facing the emergency management community.

The 2015 meeting focused on the SEVESO III Directive, the development of a National Guidance document on Evacuation & Rest Centres, Community Resilience, managing the Ebola crisis, Flood Risk Management (CFRAMS), Civil Defence support for evacuation and rest centres and Blue Shield (cultural & Heritage protection). This reflects a further iteration of the continuous improvement approach where issues identified from recent reports and responses are addressed in a systematic way.